The Iliad of Homer and Greek Heroes Essay -- essays research papers

The Iliad is an epic tale of war and hero’s within the Greek way of life. A predominant and consistent theme of honor and glory reside throughout the poem. The motivation for any Homeric Greek is glory, or â€Å"Kleos†, that is to be honored and respected among their people. Emphasis is put on living by the heroic code. Honor is essential to the Greeks and life would not be worth living without it. When a warrior or hero is advised to avoid risking their life in battle it almost drives them even further towards the deed. It is better to be killed in action rather than to live and be thought a coward. By our rational standards one would certainly not be thought a coward if they didn’t rush into battle to almost certain death, the Greeks however, live by a different set of rules, a different set of standards and a different set of goals. The objective of attaining Kleos was the centerpiece of life. Kleos could only be attained beating your opponent, it could not be won if it’s offered voluntarily or as a dowry . On the flip side of the pursuit of glory and respect, is the avoidance of shame and humility for not taking part in war or not risking your life. To be shamed in life is far, far worse than to be killed in battle. A Homeric warrior would be greatly shamed if he were to turn his back on a battle or confrontation even if he is certain that if he fights, he will die. To you and I, this seems ridiculous and outright offensive to common sense and logic but such thoughts didn’t exist in those days, it was all about glory, it was all about respect. If you ran from battle you might as well keep running because you will be looked upon as a failure, as a scab, as an embarrassment to the native land and your family. You could be disowned, you could be exiled, or you can even be killed. It’s unfortunate in fact that such high standards were placed of the hero’s in this poem. Many great men perished during the Trojan war because it was not in their wishes to conceive defeat and fall back, they had to fight to the death, it was the only way. The hero often finds himself in â€Å"kill or be killed† situations where they are fighting their opponents will and desire for glory and their loathing and unacceptability of shame. When a battle took place, it was one on one. One hero vs. another, one man and his resume of victorie... ...willingly sacrifice the chance to live a long life for the opportunity to attain Kleos and their desperate desire to avoid Shame. Burial rights are taken especially seriously in Ancient Greek times, and Hektors family would feel particular shame if he was not to be taken back to his homeland and cremated properly. They went to great length and expense to retrieve his body after Achilleus allowed it. Shame and Kleos ran their lives, and the lives of those around them. These heroes pledged to a life long ambition to bring honor to themselves and avoid any smearing of their good name. The moral values were based on this acceptance and the society adapted. There was nothing more important than these two aspects of life; it was all that was important, and all that was on the agenda. This is how the Ancient Greeks and Trojans fought this war; by the very fabric of their lives they would do what they deemed necessary to satisfy their need for glory. And thus, a select few, till this day have their name sketched in history books as great warriors, and great men. That is precisely what they hoped for, and precisely what they got. To the victor, go the spoils.

Investigatory Project in Biology

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CHILI (CAPSICUM ANNUM) EXTRACT An Investigatory Research Presented to Mrs. Presented by CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study . Capsicum annuum is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America and northern South America. Chili has been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC. There is archaeological evidence at sites located in southwestern Ecuador that chili peppers were domesticated more than 6000 years ago and is one of the first cultivated crops in the Central and South Americas that is self-pollinating.The plant is a perennial, but usually grown as an annual, with a densely branched stem. The plant reaches 0. 5–1. 5 m (20–60 in). The species is a source of popular sweet peppers and hot chili fruit, and numerous varieties are cultivated around the world. Despite being a single species, Capsicum annuum has many cultivars, with a variety of names. In American English it is commonly known as a chili pepper or bell pepper. Hot peppers are used in medicine as well as food in Africa.It is employed in medicine, in combination with Cinchona in intermittent and lethargic affections, and also in atonic gout, dyspepsia accompanied by flatulence, tympanitis, paralysis etc. Its most valuable application appears however to be in cynanche maligna and scarlatina maligna, used either as a gargle or administered internally. In this research, antimicrobial activity of chili will be studied. Certain bacteria and fungal species will be the focus of the experiment. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and fungi like Trichophyton rubrum Statement of the ProblemThe main problem of this study is to determine the antimicrobial activity of chili (Capsicum annum) extract. This study also intends to answer the following. 1. The effectiveness of the chili extract as an antimicrobial. 2. The response of the bacteria species to the chili extract. 3. The response of the fungal s pecies to the chili extract. Significance of the Study This study would add knowledge in the field of science. This would also be a help in further studies about plants as antimicrobial. Science students and science teachers can use this as a source for future research with regards to this study.The public would directly benefited by this study. Infections of bacteria and fungi to humans such as pimples, athlete’s foot, skin infection and diarrhea will be aided naturally. Since chili is cheap and highly available, people can easily get and make antimicrobial extract from chili. Moreover, this study may as well be use by future researchers as a resource material. Scope and Limitation of the Study This research would make use extract from chili as antimicrobial. Other natural extracts from other plants are excluded. Antimicrobial activity includes bacteria and fungal species.Bacteria species consist of Staphylococcus aureus while fungal species consist of Trichophyton rubrum. D ealing with microorganisms might be exposed for contamination. Aseptic technique should be observed. Over 2 plates of microorganisms will be prepared and a many laboratory works will be done. This might lessen the effectiveness of the research data and result due to human cause. That’s why human patience and strength should be employed to avoid incorrect result. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Capsicum Annuum as PlantCapsicum annuum is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America and northern South America. The three species C. annuum, C. frutescens and C. chinense all evolved from a single common ancestor located somewhere in the northwest Brazil – Columbia area. his species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capiscums. The name annuum means â€Å"annual† (from the Latin annus â€Å"year†, the plant is not an annual and in the absence of winter frosts can survive several s easons and grow into a large perennial shrub. The C. nnuum is especially productive in warm and dry climates. The single flowers are an off-white (sometimes purplish) color whilst the stem is densely branched and up to 60  centimetres (24 in) tall. When ripe, the fruit may be green, yellow or red. In American English the plant is commonly known as a chili pepper or bell pepper. Sweet peppers are very often used as a bulking agent in cheap ready made meals/take-away food as they are cheap, have a strong flavour, and are colorful. The colorful aspect of peppers increases the visual appeal of the food, making it more appetizing.Capsaicin, a chemical found in chili peppers, creates a burning sensation once ingested which can last for several hours after ingestion. In British English, the sweet varieties are called red or green peppers, and the hot varieties chillies whereas in Australian and Indian English the name capsicum is commonly used for bell peppers exclusively and chilli is o ften used to encompass the hotter varieties. Uses of Capsicum Annuum The species is a source of popular sweet peppers and hot chilis with numerous varieties cultivated all around the world.Hot peppers are used in medicine in Africa and other countries. It is employed in medicine, in combination with Cinchona in intermittent and lethargic affections, and also in atonic gout, dyspepsia accompanied by flatulence, tympanitis, paralysis etc. Its most valuable application appears however to be in cynanche maligna (acute diptheria) and scarlatina maligna (malignent Scarlet fever, used either as a gargle or administered internally. It is also considered efficacious for a wide variety of symptoms including sore throat nd fever. Microorganisms Microorganisms are very diverse; they include bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists; microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as plankton and the planarian. Some microbiologists also include viruses, but others consider these as non-living. M ost microorganisms are unicellular (single-celled), but this is not universal, since some multicellular organisms are microscopic, while some unicellular protists and bacteria, like Thiomargarita namibiensis, are macroscopic and visible to the naked eye.Microorganisms live in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within the Earth's crust. Microorganisms are critical to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. As some microorganisms can fix nitrogen, they are a vital part of the nitrogen cycle, and recent studies indicate that airborne microbes may play a role in precipitation and weather.Microbes are also exploited by people in biotechnology, both in traditional food and beverage preparation, and in modern technologies based on genetic engineering. However, pathogenic microbes are harmful, since they invade and grow within other organisms, causing disea ses that kill people, other animals and plants. Antimicrobials An antimicrobial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms[1] such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. Antimicrobial drugs either kill microbes (microbiocidal) or prevent the growth of microbes (microbiostatic).Disinfectants are antimicrobial substances used on non-living objects or outside the body. The history of antimicrobials begins with the observations of Pasteur and Joubert, who discovered that one type of bacteria could prevent the growth of another. They did not know at that time that the reason one bacterium failed to grow was that the other bacterium was producing an antibiotic. Technically, antibiotics are only those substances that are produced by one microorganism that kill, or prevent the growth, of another microorganism.Of course, in today's common usage, the term antibiotic is used to refer to almost any drug that attempts to rid your body of a bacterial infection. Antimicrobials include not just antibiotics, but synthetically formed compounds as well. Antimicrobial nanotechnology is a recent addition to the fight against disease causing organisms, replacing heavy metals and toxins and may some day be a viable alternative. Infections that are acquired during a hospital visit are called â€Å"hospital acquired infections† or nosocomial infections.Similarly, when the infectious disease is picked up in the non-hospital setting it is considered â€Å"community acquired†. Natural Antimicrobials Many these plants have been investigated scientifically for antimicrobial activity, and a large number of plant products have been shown to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. A number of these agents appear to have structures and modes of action that are distinct from those of the antibiotics in current use, suggesting that cross-resistance with agents already in use may be minimal.So, it is worthwhile to study plants and plant products for acti vity against resistant bacteria. Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites, such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Materials Chili Forceps Mortal and Pestle Bacteria culture Blender Fungal culture Cheese clothSmall circular absorbant paper Beaker Research Design In this study, the antimicrobial activity of Capsicum annum will be measured quantitatively against bacterial and fungal species.The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) will be qualitatively determined. Plant Collection and Sampling Method Chili (Capsicum annum) plant will be obtained from the local market of Zamboanga City. Mature chili will be use having a usable size of 1/4 inch in diameter. Chili will be purchased using simple random sampling. This will be applied to all chili vendors in the market. They will be washed in sterile water and will be crushed prior to extraction. Extraction Process Th e 40g crushed chili will be blended until is reaches a smooth texture. The chili soup will be strained by a cheese cloth and extract the juice.The chili extract will be then set aside for the experiment. Bacterial and Fungal Culture The Staphylococcus aureus and Trichophyton rubrum will be used in the experiment. These microorganisms will be obtained from Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Data Gathering Procedure The MIC will be evaluated on the chili extract showing an antimicrobial activity. From the chili extract, a small circular absorbent paper will be soaked and place on the surface of the cultured microorganism. After 2 days. Result will be observed. The zone of inhibition

Perils of Texting Essay

Cell phones have become a staple of modern society. Nearly everyone has them, and people carry and use them at all hours of the day. For the most part, this is a good thing: the benefits of staying connected at any time and at any location are considerable. But if you’re like most Americans, you may regularly talk on the phone or even text while at the wheel of a car. This dangerous behavior has resulted in increasing numbers of accidents and fatalities caused by cell phone usage. The trend shows no sign of slowing down. In 2003, a federal study of 10,000 drivers by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) set out to determine the effects of using cell phones behind the wheel. The results were conclusive: talking on the phone is equivalent to a 10- point reduction in IQ and a .08 blood alcohol level, which law enforcement considers intoxicated. Handsfree sets were ineffective in eliminating risk, the study found, because the conversation itself is what distra cts drivers, not holding the phone. Cell phone use caused 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents in 2002. Related studies indicated that drivers that talked on the phone while driving increased their crash risk fourfold, and drivers that texted while driving increased their crash risk by a whopping 23 times. Since that study, mobile device usage has grown by an order of magnitude, worsening this already dangerous situation. The number of wireless subscribers in America has increased by around 1,000 percent since 1995 to nearly 300 million overall in 2010, and Americans’ usage of wireless minutes increased by approximately 6,000 percent. This increase in cell phone usage has been accompanied by an upsurge in phone-related fatalities and accidents: In 2010, it’s estimated that texting caused 5,870 fatalities and 515,000 accidents, up considerably from prior years. These figures are roughly half of equivalent statistics for drunk driving. Studies show that drivers know that using the phone while driving is one of the most dangerous things you can do on the road, but refuse to admit that it’s dangerous when they themselves do it. Of users that text while driving, the more youthful demographic groups, such as the 18–29 age group, are by far the most frequent texters. About three quarters of Americans in this age group regularly text, compared to just 22 percent of the 35–44 age group. Correspondingly, the majority of accidents involving mobile device use behind the wheel involve young adults. Among this age group, texting behind  the wheel is just one of a litany of problems raised by frequent texting: anxiety, distraction, failing grades, repetitive stress injuries, and sleep deprivation are just some of the other problems brought about by excessive use of mobile devices. Teenagers are particularly prone to using cell phones to text because they want to know what’s happening to their friends and are anxious about being socially isolated. Analysts predict that over 800 billion text messages will be sent in 2010. Texting is clearly here to stay, and in fact has supplanted phone calls as the most commonly used method of mobile communication. People are unwilling to give up their mobile devices because of the pressures of staying con nected. Neurologists have found that the neural response to multitasking by texting while driving suggests that people develop addictions to the digital devices they use most, getting quick bursts of adrenaline, without which driving becomes boring. There are interests opposed to legislation prohibiting cell phone use in cars. A number of legislators believe that it’s not state or federal government’s role to prohibit poor decision making. Auto makers, and some safety researchers, are arguing that with the proper technology and under appropriate conditions, communicating from a moving vehicle is a manageable risk. Louis Tijerina, a veteran of the NHTSA and Ford Motor Co. researcher, notes that even as mobile phone subscriptions have surged to over 250 million during the past decade, the death rate from accidents on the highways has fallen. Nevertheless, lawmakers are increasingly recognizing the need for more powerful legislation barring drivers from texting behind the wheel. Many states have made inroads with laws prohibiting texting while operating vehicles. In Utah, drivers crashing while texting can receive 15 years in prison, by far the toughest sentence for texting while driving in the nation when the legislation was enacted. Utah’s law assumes that drivers understand the risks of texting while driving, whereas in other states, prosecutors must prove that the driver knew about the risks of texting while driving before doing so. Utah’s tough law was the result of a horrifying accident in which a speeding college student, texting at the wheel, rear-ended a car in front. The c ar lost control, entered the opposite side of the road, and was hit head-on by a pickup truck hauling a trailer, killing the driver instantly. In September 2008, a train engineer in California was texting within a minute prior to the most fatal train  accident in almost two decades. Californian authorities responded by banning the use of cell phones by train workers while on duty. In total, 31 states have banned texting while driving in some form, and most of those states have a full ban for phone users of all ages. The remaining states are likely to follow suit in coming years as well. President Obama also banned texting while driving for all federal government employees in October 2009. Still, there’s more work to be done to combat this dangerous and life-threatening practice. Sources: Paulo Salazar, â€Å"Banning Texting While Driving,† WCBI.com, August 7, 2010; Jerry Hirsch, â€Å"Teen Drivers Dangerously Divide Their Attention,† Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2010; www.drivinglaws. org, accessed July 2010; www.drivinglaws.org, accessed July 7, 2010; Matt Richtel, â€Å"Driver Texting Now an Issue in the Back Seat,† The New York Times, September 9, 2009; Matt Richtel, â€Å"Utah Gets Tough With Texting Drivers,† The New York Times, August 29, 2009; Matt Richtel, â€Å"In Study, Texting Lifts Crash Risk by Large Margin,† The New York Times, July 28, 2009; Matt Richtel, â€Å"D rivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone Risks,† The New York Times, July 19, 2009; Tom Regan, â€Å"Some Sobering Stats on Texting While Driving,† The Christian Science Monitor, May 28, 2009; Katie Hafner, â€Å"Texting May be Taking a Toll on Teenagers,† The New York Times, May 26, 2009; and Tara Parker-Pope, â€Å"Texting Until Their Thumbs Hurt,† The New York Times, May 26, 2009. Questions to be answered: 1. Which of the five moral dimensions of information systems identified is involved in this case? 2. What are the ethical, social, and political issues raised by this case? 3. Which of the ethical principles described are useful for decision making about texting while driving?